Pete C. wrote:
> " wrote:
> >
> > Dave Bugg wrote:
> > >> If you're talking briquettes rather than real lump charcoal, then it has
> > > more to do with making sure all the briquettes are ignited and stabilized to
> > > reduce temperature fluctuations. Some folks fire up briquettes with starting
> > > fluid,a petroleum derivative, --- can we say YUCK --- which does add
> > > unpleasent flavor to the food; but so do most briquettes. Kingsford, for
> > > example, uses a mixture of anthracite coal (yup, that stuff in the ground)
> > > and fir tree char (which you would never use for real barbecue, unless you
> > > love the taste of turpentine). It is then bound together with starches and
> > > other binders. No amount of burning will remove the off-taste that is
> > > inherent to these products.
> >
> > After using a gas grill for the last 15 years, there's no way I could
> > go back to charcoal. I eat a charcoal grilled hamburger and all I can
> > taste is charcoal.
>
> That would be the crap lighter fluid and coal issue as noted above, not
> charcoal.
>
> Try grilling a burger formed from just ground beef (<5 min from grinder
> to grill) over proper lump charcoal (low grill position, 600+ degrees)
> and taste a new culinary world.

The thing is lump charcaoal is not all that clean either, it's a dirty
fuel, burning even the so-called finest lump charcaoal produces lots of
soot... gas burns far cleaner... I gave up on lump charcoal long ago,
maks a steak smell like pencil sharpener leavings.

No grill is all that great for cooking. In almost all cases they are
filthy dirty things, loaded with rancid grease from long ago cooked
meats, a steak cooked on the typical grill tastes like it's been cooked
in a pan that's never been cleaned. The best way to cook steak is on a
freshly stoned griddle.

Sheldon